BTS announced as the subject of mystery memoir
Consider it a mystery solved.
It turns out a book without a title or a cover, that shot up the best-seller rankings at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, is actually a biography about boy band sensation BTS, according to The New York Times.
Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record Of BTS was written by journalist Kang Myeong-seok, along with members of the group, and translated into English by Anton Hur.
Initially, many fans had suspected that the cryptic title was a Taylor Swift biography or memoir, and as a result pre-orders were sent soaring, which included being number one at Amazon.
The BTS biography is scheduled to be released this summer through Flatiron Books and Big Hit Music.
Biography coming: A previously untitled book, speculated to be a Taylor Swift memoir by many of her fans, is actually an upcoming biography about the boy Band sensation BTS; the group are pictured in 2020
Rumor debunked: By speculating the untitled book was a Taylor Swift memoir, Swifie fans helped send it to No. 1 on Amazon with pre-orders
The biography was initially listed as ‘4C Untitled Flatiron Nonfiction Summer 2023’ on Amazon.
While little is known about book, it was first revealed to include 544 page, and has a release date of July 9.
As rumors began to swirl about it being a Taylor Swift memoir, her Swiftie fans took to social media to point out that 544 adds to to 13, which is the pop superstar’s favorite number and birthdate in December, as reported by Billboard.
Swift’s devoted fans also theorized that the July 9 release date might have been a reference to her song Last Kiss.
But as real BTS devotees know, July 9 is significant in that it’s the date the group’s millions of fans around the world celebrate Army Day, which is dedicated to their fandom as the day the name ‘Army’ was first coined.
This upcoming July 9 is even more noteworthy considering it will mark the 10th anniversary of the Army Day tradition.
Now that the book has been confirmed to be a BTS biography, it’s now being described as an ‘oral history of the K-Pop group in South Korea and the United States,’ according to The New York Times.
Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record Of BTS is currently on sale for $27 at Amazon and $29.99 for a Kindle version.
Fans can pre-order the upcoming book online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $39.99.
10 years and counting: BTS were formed in 2010, and have released nine studio albums, seven compilation albums, and six extended plays since 2013; they are seen soon after the release of debut album in August 2013 in Seoul, South Korea
Main man: The group was formed around rapper RM (Kim Nam-joon), who serves as BTS leader
BTS was first formed in 2010, after Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk wanted to form a hip-hop group around RM (Kim Nam-joon), an underground rapper who was well known on the music scene in Seoul at the time.
But after seeing how record sales continued to drop around the world Si-hyuk changed course and decided to pursue a more marketable avenue and create an idol group, but one where the individuals would be free to express themselves and have input in the music.
Along with RM, the group would eventually consist of fellow rapper J-Hope and Suga, as well as vocalists Jin, Jimin, V and Jungkook.
Coming: Beyond The Story: 10-Year Record Of BTS is slated to be released July 9; the group are pictured performing at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas in April 2022
Since 2013, BTS has released nine albums, seven compilation albums, and six extended plays.
By 2018, the group had surpassed 10 million albums sold, which set a record for reaching that milestone in the shortest span of time (5½ years) among all Korean acts to have debuted since 2000, with five million of those albums being sold in South Korea that year alone.
BTS went on to hit the mark of 20 million physical albums sold in South Korea in April 2020, earning them the distinction as being the best-selling Korean act of all time,
As of December 2022, BTS has sold more than 38 million albums domestically.